


Technological Ignorance

by Royswordsman (RoySwordsman)



Category: Captain America, Captain America (2011), Iron Man (Comic), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-27
Updated: 2012-05-27
Packaged: 2017-11-06 03:22:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,319
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/414161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoySwordsman/pseuds/Royswordsman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve doesn't know how to use computers, it's something that he's never really grasped the concept of and needs help from Tony.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Technological Ignorance

He stared at the screen with furrowed eyebrows and eyes that mirrored the bright blue glare from the screen, biting his lower lip and letting out a huff as his index finger tentatively reached toward the ‘esc’ key. 

Tony had been working all day and was exhausted from the hustle and bustle of the everyday life being a CEO of a company. He made it look easy most of the time but there were certain days where he would use all of his brain power and yet, look cool doing it when internally he was frustrated and filled with kerfuffle. As he retired to his workshop to get some time and quiet to himself to compose his mind, which ironically, working on new tech always did, it soothed him. The small little tinkering that he would do, the little adjustments he would have to make, and gliding his hand across the smooth bonnet of the hot rod he was working on, yes, that’s what relaxed Tony Stark. Work relaxed Tony, working on something that he loved. He adored his robots but his heart belonged to his fast cars and suits that were painted and polished to perfection. Cars were simple machines that wouldn’t require much thought at all, so that’s why he loved trying to work on them to make them more complex than they actually were, he would build them into roaring machines that ripped down the roads leaving trails of fire behind them, metaphorically of course, the police would never let Tony race like that especially on a busy highway. 

When he opened the glass door to his workshop he immediately saw Steve sitting at the computer, staring at it with an intense glare.  
“You look like you’re going to punch my screens, Rogers... Which you’d better not, they’re expensive monitors.” Tony said as he took a couple of steps closer to Steve.  
Steve’s mouth shifted to the side, frowning almost. His finger hovered over the same ‘esc’ key, getting lower and lower but not actually touching it.  
“What on earth are you doing?” Tony said as he leaned forward over Steve’s shoulder, brushing past the blonde mess and feeling it against his cheek. That’s another thing that would relax him; knowing that Steve would be home waiting for him. Tony would get to smell that apple-pie-crust smell that Steve would always have. A freshly baked apple pie, which was the smell that Tony was reminded of whenever he’d get that close to his boyfriend. He licked his lips, feeling hungry now that he thought of it, though his eyes quickly darted to the screen and he saw a default screensaver which was a strange shape being formed by lines darting over the screen which somewhat resembled a maze. 

“I’m trying to escape this labyrinth, Tony, is this the right button? It’s short for ‘escape’ right?” Steve asked as he looked over at Tony, awaiting an answer.  
Tony couldn’t help but burst into laughter, pulling back quickly and clutching his sides. Steve just looked so distressed and that was why. He didn’t understand anything about technology but the plus side was that he was a quick learner. Tony had taught him how to use the TV and the simple tablets at the base but he’d never had a chance to teach him how to use the computers in his workshop. Steve looked at Tony and huffed,  
“It is escape, right?” Steve asked again for confirmation. 

At this point Tony could barely stand straight, he was clutching his aching sides, feeling the stitches from laughing so much. Steve was so naive that it was endearing at the same time and so technologically ignorant. He was a simple man and that was what Tony loved about him, but it was hilarious at the same time, especially when it came to matters regarding computers. 

He had to close his eyes and take a second to calm down before he cleared his throat and leaned forward again, “It’s not a real maze, Steve, it’s a screensaver – it comes up when you leave the computer for a while.” Tony explained. 

“So how do I get rid of it?” Steve asked, tilting his head, pleased to see that Tony was actually helping him and taking things seriously. Steve did admire his patience; he knew it must have been difficult for him to slow down just for his sakes. Things that Steve found difficult, Tony could do in a matter of seconds and that’s why they worked together well as a team rather than individually. Together they were so much stronger and covered each other’s weaknesses. They were like yin and yang. 

“You just press anything...” Tony said, reaching for the keyboard and tapping it lightly to see the main operating screen.  
Steve looked at it and blinked, “I’ve been sitting here for hours trying to figure out how to escape the maze...” he said with an almost sad tone, only to feel Tony patting the back of his head and stroking down toward the nape of his neck. 

“Its okay, come on... I’ll teach you how to use this so you can go into the SHIELD database and type up reports, it’ll be so much easier than hand-writing them and then getting someone to type them up for you.” Tony said in a gentle voice. He really couldn’t help but smile at Steve. The thing about Steve is that he was perfect in every single way, strong, elegant, smart, and funny when he wanted to be, but every hero has his flaws. This was Tony’s forte and he actually enjoyed teaching Steve, although Steve’s curiosity and constant questions would irritate Tony, he was happy to answer them and see Steve become excited once he did something correctly. Internally his heart would melt to see that look of glee spread across Steve’s face, like a child getting a new toy. He would smile so much that small dimples in his cheeks would be visible, and the only other time Tony would ever get a glance of them was if he opened his eyes as they pressed their lips together, but it was difficult to get a proper view. Those small little dimples that made Tony’s heart warm and beat just that little bit faster. It was rewarding. 

Tony was keen to have a work-life balance policy in place, though sometimes the ‘life’ segment of that would outweigh the ‘work’ part. Nonetheless by the end of the night Steve had managed to do a couple of mission reports, having them all printed and presented in folders ready to present to the agents back at base. They had basically been working all night but it didn’t seem like work. Tony was educating Steve and Steve was quite happily absorbing everything that he was taught like a sponge, though there were a couple of hiccups along the way, especially when Steve would get angry at the computer for not doing what he wanted and would try and ‘escape’ from everything by pressing the same key that wasn’t very effective.  
Steve was tired and Tony was utterly exhausted, sitting next to Steve and leaning his head on the taller mans broad shoulders, shutting his eyes as Steve tapped away at the keys trying to get more work done now that Tony had taught him how. He was a slow typer but it was something that he would get used to after time. He still hated staring at the screen for copious amounts of time but he was aware that he needed to adapt to the time. He looked over to see Tony was fast asleep, the dark haired mans arm around Steve’s waist hanging there loosely for support even though he was leaning into him. 

Steve smiled warmly and wrapped his arm around Tony, stroking the sleek, slicked back hair of the billionaire and whispering softly, “Thank you.”


End file.
